1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to field games, and more particularly, to a game piece and method of employing said game piece.
2. Description of Related Art
The game of football has been a popular activity for people of all ages for many years. The object of the game of football is for an offensive team to advance a ball, by running or passing, along a playing field until an offensive player is able to cross a goal in possession of the ball (touchdown) or kick the ball through a designated goal post (field goal). Offensive teammates act as obstructions (blockers) of opposing defensive players. Defensive players attempt to stop the progress of the ball-carrier by touching or tackling the ball-carrier. The game is generally designed to have eleven offensive and eleven defensive players.
A disadvantage of conventional football is that the participants' options are limited and variations of the game are less challenging when fewer than eleven players are available per team. Unfortunately, it is not always possible to arrange for 22 players at a designated time and location. With a reduced number of players, less offensive receivers will be available for a passer to throw the ball to and less defensive players will be available to thwart the passer from reaching the target. Similarly, less offensive blockers will exist to serve as an obstacle to pursuing defensive players and less defensive obstacles will exist for offensive players to avoid while advancing the ball.
As with football, games such as soccer, basketball, hockey, rugby and the like are designed to be played with a number of participants. Again, as with football, there are few options as to how these games may be played to accommodate a lesser number of available participants than generally required.
Game pieces are rare in the area of field games. U.S. Pat. No. 3,675,921 to Meyers describes a life sized basketball player with a motor to direct arm movement. The device is designed to provide a distracting obstacle for a human basketball player. However, this device is not suitably designed for contact with a human player or the game ball. Human contact with this device may well inflict pain or injury to a human participant. No known game piece is structurally adapted to interact with human game participants serving as both obstacles to humans and as targets for humans.
Board games intended to simulate field games are known. Many board games employ game pieces intended to simulate human participants of a field game. However, these game pieces are generally too small and structurally inadequate to interact as simulated players with human participants in a field game.